Foam Roller for Postural Training

The best foam roller to get in my opinion is the AXIS foam roller. It is a black spine roller made of high-density foam that lasts a great deal of time in comparison to other rollers. Since so many people tend to ask me: the Foam Roller Plus works, but the sleeve on it tends to wear out quickly, and then you find yourself having to replace it again and again. Buy an AXIS roller.

Using the Foam Roller for Postural Exercise

The foam roller works very well as a postural tool when you use it correctly. There are essentially two exercises to use with it.

Passive Supine Position for Postural Improvement

The best way to use the foam roller to improve your posture is also the easiest — just lie on it lengthways. Make sure that your head and your tailbone are both supported by the roller. You must have the 6” diameter, 3’ long roller for this purpose.

Once you are comfortably on the roller, allow the arms to fall to the floor in a natural position, palms up. You should be comfortable enough that you can take a nap. Lie in this position for fifteen minutes per day, twice per day, for best results.

As you acclimate yourself to the exercise, you should gradually be able to move your hands higher, eventually anywhere within an approximate ninety degree arc range of motion. That means that long-term, you should be just as comfortable with your arms on the floor at your sides as you are with them high enough that your knuckles are in line with the top of your head.

Performing this passive drill twice daily for fifteen minutes each session has been shown to increase neural drive by up to 2% in thirty days. The spine lengthens and decompresses when you lie on the roller, creating more space between the vertebrae, thus giving the nerves more room. This phenomenon improves the speed that the neurological messages travel from the brain to the body – think of it as increasing the bandwidth of your nervous system.

Continue reading about how to use the foam roller for mobilization of the spine.